Sorry, but the hike is completely justified and, in my view, should have been hiked even further to 5 lakhs or so. You cannot expect universities of a high standard if you pay low fees. I am not even talking about private college like Jindal or Ashoka or ISB or medical colleges (where the fees can be 1 crore): look at GOVERNMENT colleges like IIT and IIM.
Also, it's bullshit hypocrisy to complain about paying 3 lakhs a year when kids have no problems paying thousands to buy iPhones and the latest designer clothes.
If you want to pay cut-price fees, then go to TLCs.
We have received a message on the fee hike by an NLU-D reader, sharing it here:
Quote:
The source of this worry is that the admin of NLUD has suddenly, opaquely, and arbitrarily increased the fees for the incoming students by more than 100% from around 1.7 lacs to around 3.7 lacs.
This decision does not accompany any reasoning or consultation with the current student body at all. We are all worried as it will deter most of the students away from getting admission into NLUD and will thus have an impact on its quality and standing. But most importantly we fail to see the justification behind a public institution being able to ask for and charge 3.7 lac per annum - that too so arbitrarily and whimsically.
People are just throwing around words like “arbitrary” and “whimsical”. Fee hikes are never done in such a manner. There will be guiding principles for this decision. Post the 7th CPC, and accounting for inflation, salaries are a significant burden. Further, capital grants for infrastructure have generally been drying up. Upkeep of campus facilities is an ongoing expenditure for which fiscal sustainability must be kept in mind. It would be better if NLUD conveys these reasons, so that such flippant attacks don’t embarrass the institution.
As for unaffordability, it is incumbent on the admin to facilitate scholarships as well as education loans for the needy, so that no meritorious student is denied an opportunity to study for want of money.
I think NLS has been rather mature about this, and conversing openly about the fiscal state of the university, while also building out a philanthropic network for fundraising, campus investment, and scholarships. NLUD could learn a thing or two.
1. It's one of over 100%. Fees hikes are supposed to be gradual. You can't expect people to just abandon their financial planning just because one day you wake up and find things too costly. When students wrote ailet or took admission in nlud they had certain expectations about the fee structure and doubling it overnight cannot be justified because there was no fee hike in the past, as the VC quotes. Such a hike is unprecedented for any NLU or any other gov institution with a similar fee structure.
2. No reason whatsoever has been put forth to justify the hike. Can a 100% hike be justified if there is no substantial improvement in the facilities or quality available to the students? All the VC has quoted is that such hike was long overdue. I am pretty sure that till this moment the university had not taken debt to teach its students which suddenly needs repayment. I fail to see the urgent need to double the revenue at once given that there's no info about the gov cutting its grants.
3. The student body, which is the biggest stakeholder, was not consulted. While the college boasts of being #2 on NIRF (whatever that is worth), the admin goes on to unilaterally impose bone crushing burden on students and their families without keeping anyone in the loop or even hinting at why it may be needed. The absence of any consultation whatsoever does not bode well for the university's future and rightly garners the concern of the student body.
The lack of funds is only a cover for the incompetence of the current admin. Since SKD, the college has maintained a pathetic state of affairs. Quality of life within the hostels has deteriorated exponentially and the admin has taken a series of unilateral decisions that have had serious impact on the student body. This may be the culmination or maybe it's only the beginning.
Have fees really not been raised for years and years, even in line with inflation? That sounds like a serious lack of planning and foresight if true and something like compound inflation has bitten NLU-D in the butt requiring such an aggressive fee-hike.
Yeah. The fees have not been hiked in a decade since 2013. They were raising it gradually every 5 years but for some reason, it wasn't increased in 2018.
They did mention the increased fees when AILET registrations began for this year. So, it's not some sudden change in policy after students had written the AILET. People could have withdrawn if they thought the fees was exorbitant. And honestly, the facilities in college are good. Air-conditioned hostels, one of the best law libraries, modern infrastructure for the Academic Block, etc.
But the main question is does the fee hike apply for previous batches as well? When I was there, the previous batches paid only the fees that they paid when they initially joined for the entirety of their five years.
Whatever is being provided is also there in most law schools and NLUs now. Nothing extraordinary to merit such steep increase. Why don't you ask the admin for expense records and revenue?
If true, then NLUD has been irresponsible. Fee hikes ought to be gradual, and transparently communicated. Another cardinal principle is that new fee structures should only apply for new incoming batches, and the existing students should have the old structure.
"deter most of the students" eh? I don't believe a word. Go to any half-decent engineering or MBA institute and you will be paying double. If you are not happy go to GLC or DU. Simple.
NLS doesn't keep bragging about the state support that it gets like NLUD people do. Moreover, NLS doesn't conduct a sham extra exam and extorts money from all law aspirants every year.
When NLS did try to do that with NLAT, they were rebuffed by the Supreme Court. And no, there were also protests by students at NLS when the VC arbitrarily hiked the fee as soon as he took charge in 2019.
Further, just because NLS mein no one cribs(quite untrue, look at paper coverage and quint coverage btw) doesn't make it right to not raise our voice against it here. NLS gets a lot of things wrong, their student body is so vomitingly corp that it makes me want to well, throw up. there is close to no political and social consciousness there, and it is reflected by their silence on issues like these. we are not nls, we do not want to be. if five years of education in law and humanities cant produce any level of consciousness in you, regardless of what your package is, i cant see you as anything more than a barbarian or a clown
"kids have no problems paying thousand to buy iPhone's' and the latest designer clothes"
This comes from a very privileged position, and such students are in the small small minority. Have you even spoken to your batchmates? Try understanding the financial condition of everyone and see that half of them study on student debt.. at insane interest rates and in a profession that does not even pay enough for sustenance for the ordinary un-connected first gen law student.
This has started to liken to the conditions in US law schools where most people take on immense debt and then are stuck in mindless corporate slavery for years. But that should be fine in US Biglaw as the pay is at least much much better, not in India where 90 percent law students are gonna work for no pay for 5-6 years in courts.
It is unimaginable that one must possess such overwhelming privilege and entitlement to produce such unreasonable and untenable writing. The fact that the average household income in India is under 3 lakhs per year only serves to the absurdity of charging exorbitant fees at a public institution. How are the children of the general populace expected to afford such costs? It is with great disappointment that we see NLUs becoming increasingly elitist, depriving the average middle class student of the opportunities they deserve due to financial constraints. We are solely responsible of creating a legal system that is only accessible to the wealthy. This must fill us with shame and dread.
This is a 'public university'. Clearly, you are unfamiliar with the term. It also boasts of substantial government funding and support. What new thing is it providing that other NLUs are not and therefore justifies the additional price?
sorry to say this, But I think the fees hike is quite justified and even every law college should substantially hike the fee in order to lower the arbitrary admissions taken by random students across India. we all are aware of the statements that one has to hear ' kuch nai to law kar liya'. If the legal education system is strong, independent, and offers quality pay to the professors, I think we can make a difference not only in improving the legal education system but also the job prospects. This is something to think about.
Sorry to sound like a boomer (I am actually Gen Y) but it needs to be said: Gen Z kids are entitled and clueless. Haven't you heard of inflation? Or the Pay Commission salaries, as one of the posts points out? Are professors your slaves? They need to be paid well too. Money does not grow on trees.
7th CPC salaries have been implemented since 2016, enforced from 2019 retrospectively. That does not explain the poor financial planning of the university. Quit citing that as an excuse. Moreover, the university does not have even 30 full time faculty, so the financial requirement for that is certainly not very high. On the other hand, it has a large number of certificate and online courses and a separate entrance exam to raise revenue and boasts of external funding for all its research centres. So where is all this money going? Students should demand to see the university accounts.
make the government pay them, that is the point of a government institution. the brunt of expenses must be borne from gov coffers not ours. all eminent institutes get most of their funding from the gov, not the students, i don't see why there shouldn't be a push for the same for NLUs
There are bigger questions of what this means to the 'public' in the institution. It is SUPPOSED to run on public money, not the money of the few hundred kids that are here.
Most scholarships that the university talks about end at levels of 4l, so there is close to no coverage for people from the EWS/OBC category who fall in the 4-8L bracket. Sure, the university may bring out more scholarship/assistance programmes for them, but there was little to no disclosure about this during the entire counselling process, and this may have very well deterred individuals who may have secured a seat here but couldn't pay the required fee.
Not every kid here rocks an iPhone, the larger student body after the increased representation in the batches is middle-class that comes from rather humble backgrounds. If you are blind to them and their experiences though, that's a you issue.
Even if EVERY kid here supposedly had an iPhone, and was well-off, I would say that it would have still been utterly wrong. This is because of the idea of public institutions at large. I should not have to go out and empty my parents coffers for an education, because(again as per government lingo) I have PROVED that I rightfully deserve to have a seat in this place. If I deserve to have a seat here, and I have gone through a public, transparent process to get here, I must be given access to it free from mighty incumbrances, further because it is the government that is seen to discharge its duties of dispensing education to the public. Why am I being made to pay so heavily for a government duty that I, directly and indirectly, pay for anyway?
I do not think you also understand the importance of NLUs, and the goals for which they were set-up for. The larger goal of this was to create socially conscious lawyers, and that is why they had to be public institutions. This goal gets crushed once you impose such a heavy financial cost on the heads of those entering this institution. Sure, law firm jobs are dominant now, but they may very well seem to be the only option once such a heavy fee is imposed on the heads of people that enter here. We may very well then be saying a goodbye to first-generational litigators or academics who would feel forced to only consider corp as a possibility here.
Comparison with IITs is unjustified, simply because during internships/career opportunities the average income levels are a lot higher than they are here. Even taking that case though, IIT Madras charges only 2lpa, compared to the mammoth 3.65 being asked for by the NLU Delhi Administration. IIT Delhi charges people at the same rate based on their income still.
Bhai tere baap ke pass itna paisa hai iska matlab ye nahi sabke baap ke itna paisa hai. Even after taking into consideration the added costs and inflation, fees hike has always been in gradual manner and not like a sudden hike of 100%.
https://www.barandbench.com/news/lawschools/nlu-delhi-more-than-doubles-its-fee-for-incoming-students
Sorry, but the hike is completely justified and, in my view, should have been hiked even further to 5 lakhs or so. You cannot expect universities of a high standard if you pay low fees. I am not even talking about private college like Jindal or Ashoka or ISB or medical colleges (where the fees can be 1 crore): look at GOVERNMENT colleges like IIT and IIM.
Also, it's bullshit hypocrisy to complain about paying 3 lakhs a year when kids have no problems paying thousands to buy iPhones and the latest designer clothes.
If you want to pay cut-price fees, then go to TLCs.
Quote:
As for unaffordability, it is incumbent on the admin to facilitate scholarships as well as education loans for the needy, so that no meritorious student is denied an opportunity to study for want of money.
I think NLS has been rather mature about this, and conversing openly about the fiscal state of the university, while also building out a philanthropic network for fundraising, campus investment, and scholarships. NLUD could learn a thing or two.
1. It's one of over 100%. Fees hikes are supposed to be gradual. You can't expect people to just abandon their financial planning just because one day you wake up and find things too costly. When students wrote ailet or took admission in nlud they had certain expectations about the fee structure and doubling it overnight cannot be justified because there was no fee hike in the past, as the VC quotes. Such a hike is unprecedented for any NLU or any other gov institution with a similar fee structure.
2. No reason whatsoever has been put forth to justify the hike. Can a 100% hike be justified if there is no substantial improvement in the facilities or quality available to the students? All the VC has quoted is that such hike was long overdue. I am pretty sure that till this moment the university had not taken debt to teach its students which suddenly needs repayment. I fail to see the urgent need to double the revenue at once given that there's no info about the gov cutting its grants.
3. The student body, which is the biggest stakeholder, was not consulted. While the college boasts of being #2 on NIRF (whatever that is worth), the admin goes on to unilaterally impose bone crushing burden on students and their families without keeping anyone in the loop or even hinting at why it may be needed. The absence of any consultation whatsoever does not bode well for the university's future and rightly garners the concern of the student body.
The lack of funds is only a cover for the incompetence of the current admin. Since SKD, the college has maintained a pathetic state of affairs. Quality of life within the hostels has deteriorated exponentially and the admin has taken a series of unilateral decisions that have had serious impact on the student body. This may be the culmination or maybe it's only the beginning.
They did mention the increased fees when AILET registrations began for this year. So, it's not some sudden change in policy after students had written the AILET. People could have withdrawn if they thought the fees was exorbitant. And honestly, the facilities in college are good. Air-conditioned hostels, one of the best law libraries, modern infrastructure for the Academic Block, etc.
But the main question is does the fee hike apply for previous batches as well? When I was there, the previous batches paid only the fees that they paid when they initially joined for the entirety of their five years.
This comes from a very privileged position, and such students are in the small small minority. Have you even spoken to your batchmates? Try understanding the financial condition of everyone and see that half of them study on student debt.. at insane interest rates and in a profession that does not even pay enough for sustenance for the ordinary un-connected first gen law student.
This has started to liken to the conditions in US law schools where most people take on immense debt and then are stuck in mindless corporate slavery for years. But that should be fine in US Biglaw as the pay is at least much much better, not in India where 90 percent law students are gonna work for no pay for 5-6 years in courts.
But I think the fees hike is quite justified and even every law college should substantially hike the fee in order to lower the arbitrary admissions taken by random students across India. we all are aware of the statements that one has to hear ' kuch nai to law kar liya'. If the legal education system is strong, independent, and offers quality pay to the professors, I think we can make a difference not only in improving the legal education system but also the job prospects.
This is something to think about.
Most scholarships that the university talks about end at levels of 4l, so there is close to no coverage for people from the EWS/OBC category who fall in the 4-8L bracket. Sure, the university may bring out more scholarship/assistance programmes for them, but there was little to no disclosure about this during the entire counselling process, and this may have very well deterred individuals who may have secured a seat here but couldn't pay the required fee.
Not every kid here rocks an iPhone, the larger student body after the increased representation in the batches is middle-class that comes from rather humble backgrounds. If you are blind to them and their experiences though, that's a you issue.
Even if EVERY kid here supposedly had an iPhone, and was well-off, I would say that it would have still been utterly wrong. This is because of the idea of public institutions at large. I should not have to go out and empty my parents coffers for an education, because(again as per government lingo) I have PROVED that I rightfully deserve to have a seat in this place. If I deserve to have a seat here, and I have gone through a public, transparent process to get here, I must be given access to it free from mighty incumbrances, further because it is the government that is seen to discharge its duties of dispensing education to the public. Why am I being made to pay so heavily for a government duty that I, directly and indirectly, pay for anyway?
I do not think you also understand the importance of NLUs, and the goals for which they were set-up for. The larger goal of this was to create socially conscious lawyers, and that is why they had to be public institutions. This goal gets crushed once you impose such a heavy financial cost on the heads of those entering this institution. Sure, law firm jobs are dominant now, but they may very well seem to be the only option once such a heavy fee is imposed on the heads of people that enter here. We may very well then be saying a goodbye to first-generational litigators or academics who would feel forced to only consider corp as a possibility here.
Comparison with IITs is unjustified, simply because during internships/career opportunities the average income levels are a lot higher than they are here. Even taking that case though, IIT Madras charges only 2lpa, compared to the mammoth 3.65 being asked for by the NLU Delhi Administration. IIT Delhi charges people at the same rate based on their income still.